Never Ending Story
by RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley
Summary: sequel to Swan Song. Alex Rose and JJ learn to be lonely as the life they knew is destroyed. on the brink of insanity as an old enemy returns, can they and their parents save the universe before time runs out permanently?
1. Alex Rose Part 1

**Author's Note: sequel to Swan Song, fourth and final full blown out fic of the Tyler Twin/Within Temptation series. Will cover Children of Earth and End of Time. **

My first thought when I woke up on that fateful day was that it was too hot. Which was strange for me since I my body temperature was always cooler than an average human, not that Ianto has any complaints. I could almost feel the sun shining on me and I groaned knowing it was going to be one of those days where everything was perfect apart from the fact everyone's bored out of their minds. I shifted away from the hot water bottle of my darling lover and opened my eyes to squint at the very white curtains where the sun was shining through, remind me to tell Ianto to get thicker bedroom curtains.

I staggered out of bed and into the bathroom, dunking my head into the sinking and turning the cold water tap on. I really hate mornings. One thing that remained in my out of control personality. Sighing blissfully I turned the tap off and stood up to look in the mirror, this was the worst part of every morning, not because I look hideous or anything but because I look _different_.

You see I'm not normal despite my appearance. My mother, oh she was very normal till the age of nineteen where she fell head over heels with my father, ran off with him and had me and my annoying twin of a brother. Sounds normal right, teenager eloping and reproducing, but the father was not a normal man.

My father is a time travelling alien. No joke. Ever heard of the Doctor? The lonely man, the Oncoming Storm, the god of chaos, blah, blah, blah. Well whether you heard about him or not, it doesn't matter, what matters is that he is not normal and neither are his kids. We're Galifreyan, well half, my mother is human. We have two hearts, advance minds and the ability to regenerate. Regenerating means escaping death, which I had to do last year when the world was stolen and daleks went on the loose.

Well it was last year for people like Ianto and JJ, but for me; it was six....maybe seven years. That's time travel for you, it messes everything up, technically you can say I'm twenty two but in reality I'm probably thirty something. Those god knows how long years ago, I was short, brown messy hair with outrages coloured streak in, amber gold wolf eyes and big pouty lips. My mother's daughter with Dad's hair. Now, I look in the mirror and I have Dad's dark brown eyes and freckles, I hate those freckles they bug me since I used to have flawless skin. My hair was blonde and quite long though I shove it in a ponytail, I can't be asked doing anything special.

For a very long time I was someone completely different. If my own twin walked past me I wouldn't have blinked an eye. The result was I had two very conflicting personalities, one that I call Alex Rose who was there before regeneration and another called Carly Wicks, post regeneration. The multiple personality disorder thing, isn't a problem, Dad would have it worse if it was, since he has regenerated nine times now. It's just a bit disorientating first because usually everything you liked before, you don't. Sometimes you lose your temper faster, or you magically have the patience that you never had before. It's very frustrating really.

Dad gave me a very long talk about it after I got released from hospital, memory fully intact, thank you Donna Noble. I won't go into details but it ended with a promise saying if I had any questions I just had to ring and he'll be there.

Pah! And I'm queen of England. It's not that I don't trust him now or anything, it's just that Dad is so unreliable with time and domestics that I'm better asking my father figure Jack Harkness...who probably knows zilch.

_Hello Twin. Could you quieten the thoughts, you're buzzing loudly. _

I grinned as my twin brother's thought echoed through my mind. Most would find this a violation of privacy; I find it as a reassurance, so does JJ. After I regenerated our link had been cut and JJ was left in a void of emptiness. I didn't feel much but Carly had always felt that something was missing, something she couldn't put her finger on. So every morning JJ likes to give me a mental buzz to make sure I'm still here. That this isn't all just one very nice dream.

_Hello back atcha babe, no promises on the quietening. I'm constantly thinking you know that. See you soon at work. _

I laughed out loud at the mental groan JJ had sent through before the block came in place. I felt two warm arms went round my waist as Ianto's reflection appeared behind mine and I thank god for my alien biology as Ianto began to nuzzle against my neck. Otherwise I would probably be out of breath with sheer excitement. One thing that would never change, no matter what brand new spanking body I get, is my love and lust for Ianto Jones. He was my opposite, very calm, very patient, very quiet and very tender. So of course he knew how to handle me.

"Good morning" he mumbled.

"Good morning, I don't suppose there's coffee ready is there?" I asked hopefully.

His lips twitched against my neck before he pulled away. "There will be after your shower; I don't suppose you could give me my shirt back so I can put it in the wash?"

I slipped past him and stepped in the shower, closing the doors before unbuttoning the shirt. I have never liked sleeping in full nude, as Carly Wicks it was merely because I lived with so many people and didn't want any of them to see my body. As Alex Rose it was due to very private and delicate reasons that Ianto respects, he only ever sees my body when the lights are off and we're under the bed sheets. And usually afterwards he would give me his shirt and button it up for me, so I fall asleep with the smell of him surrounding me. Complete bliss and better than lavender insomniacs usually use to help them sleep.

After chucking the shirt over for Ianto and turning the shower on, I had a nice shower to start my day and came out fully dressed to find breakfast waiting for me. Coffee and bacon sandwiches. Yum. This summer day was quite warm so I opted to throw on my demin jacket over my jeans and t-shirt, my taste in clothes had changed from random trendy stuff to just plain boring I am ashamed to admit. Ianto was in full suit, I don't know how he or my father can cope but they do. Magicians the lot of them. Taking my hand, we left to go to work, opting to walk on this nice sunny day. If there's incident and we're worn out from running and shooting and saving lives, we will regret this decision late at night and probably sleep on the sofa while keeping one eye open for my perverted godfather.

Not that Jack would touch me. He would kill anyone for thinking such a thought; after all he pretty much raised me from nappies. Ianto however, that's another story, Jack would have no problem sleeping with Ianto if he could. Jack's long-term girlfriend, who broke up with him, got back together on a trial bases that was messed up because she was time travelling with my father, was my godmother Donna Noble. She 'died' last Christmas saving my life by donating her memory storage. She's still breathing, in a brand new body and no memory of her life before. She goes by the name River Song and lives in the 51st century, Jack won't admit it but I reckon she was an old flame of his long before he met Donna Noble. Definitely after being Donna, I think his future self would seek her out on those cold lonely nights.

As we walked past, something strange happened, which wasn't unusual, in Cardiff strange was the norm. But this was stranger than strange. This was completely abnormal because while Cardiff has seen homicidal aliens, sex gas, time travellers, death rays, never before had all the children stopped.

That's right.

All the children just froze. Not a single muscle even twitched. They just stood there, in the middle of the road, on the pavement, in awkward positions, mouths half open as if they were spoken.

It was like someone pressed a pause button on life itself.

Ianto was waving a hand in front of a girl's face. "Hello? Miss, are you all right? Can you hear me? Hello?"

"Yan, what the hell is going on?" I asked.

"I don't know" Ianto frowned. "They all just stopped..."

And then they suddenly started moving again. We exchanged knowing looks and began to walk as fast as we could towards work.

Because we're Torchwood, defenders of Earth.

I guess I should explain that one. Torchwood is a top secret government sector that deals with alien problems. We're independent of the government though, take orders from no one but ourselves unlike UNIT a more militarily like group take takes orders from the UN, my friend Dr Martha Jones works for them, I find her increasingly soldier like though and it's rather sad to see someone so nice become so...cold. Jack is the Head of Torchwood Two, the nice branch, the one that will listen to the aliens' side as well before dealing with things. We experiment only with alien technology that fell through the rift and the odd weevil. Torchwood one, however will kidnap you, experiment you, rape you, beat you, lock you up and then if they're nice enough kill you. You can tell I have problems with Torchwood One; I rather not talk about it right now though. Anyway, the children were most likely under the possession of aliens who were rather telepathic though I hadn't felt anything and I'm rather telepathic too.

Then again I'm an adult and these aliens probably could only communicate to children. Who knows why?

Entering the underground, very grey, very dingy and probably smelly if it wasn't for Ianto's constant cleaning, Hub, we found it strangely empty. Which wasn't surprising, Ianto was usually the first one in, Tosh next with Gwen and JJ not long after, Owen would come in rather late and I was never for the one to always be here. Like my father I had a severe case of wander lust. It's a wonder that Ianto managed to put up with me. Then again he was frustratingly patient with everything. While it wasn't surprising that the Hub was empty, it was surprising since Jack lives here and would normally whine for Ianto's coffee the moment we step through the threshold.

We found a note on my desk that simply read:

_Yan _

_I've gone to sort out alien problem down in the hospital. Make me coffee for my return and make sure AR doesn't cause the world to end. _

_Jack x_

I swear he has no faith in me at all. Completely unjust since the worst I have ever done was blow part of my school up during a rebellious stage and even then JJ was helping me. Jack has caused the world to almost end so many times that even Dad can't keep count. Sheer nerve I tell you.

"Sometimes I feel like an underpaid slave here" Ianto said scrunching the note up.

"If you're pay check is anything like mine then you're a very overpaid slave" I said laughingly.

"You don't clean up after Mwyfanny" Ianto muttered darkly causing me to laugh louder.

I kissed him firmly on the cheek. "Despite Owen's attitude towards you, you're a very appreciated member of the team. Now go make me more coffee while I look into this children thing"

Ianto left muttering darkly though I know he enjoys making coffee, he worships the damn thing far too much if you ask me. I only started turning my computer on when the cog door rolled open and I could hear Owen's loud complaining, unusual for the idiot of a medical doctor to be awake so early.

"Honestly, I could have killed one of those brats if I hadn't pressed on the brakes in time. What the hell are they thinking? Is it some new fad, to try and get killed and annoy all adults? I swear if it happens again I shall strangle the brat that dares stand in the middle of the road"

"Owen, do us all a favour and shut up" Gwen Cooper, my brother's girlfriend, said tiredly. "Some of us haven't had our morning coffee and wouldn't mind strangling you"

"Yes Owen, please be quiet" Tosh said quietly. "There was obviously something unnatural about this and we need to start researching it immediately"

"I believe Alex is ahead of you there, Tosh" JJ said.

I met JJ's eye. He was the splitting image of our father, brown messy hair, dark eyes, skinny twig like body and boyish grin. Unlike our father, JJ wore jeans and t-shirts and used a little less hair gel. We grinned at each other.

"Hello Little Brother" I said cheerfully.

"Hello Alex"


	2. JJ Part 1

I woke up to a buzzing sound in my mind. The buzzing of thoughts that weren't _mine, _it was a little unnerving since it meant our shields had fallen down in our sleep again. I'm pretty sure that had never happened since we were babies, back before Alex blocked everyone from everything after her first ordeal with Torchwood One. it seems lately in the past two weeks Alex's telepathy was getting stronger which was odd considering while our link was stronger from our separation we still managed to keep our shields up in our sleep.

I hope Alex didn't wander into my dream last night or verse visa....that would be humiliating, last time Alex had accidentally stumbled into my dreams I was having my very first wet dream. It suffices to say that we made sure our link was firmly blocked in our sleep. Groaning I rolled out of bed and rubbed my eyes, Gwen didn't even stir, she was a very deep sleeper my Gwen...once she actually got to sleep that is.

I sent a mental message to my darling sister who was still buzzing in the back of my mind.

_Hello Twin. Could you quieten the thoughts, you're buzzing loudly. _

I could feel her grin and suddenly I was compelled to grin along with her, she was like that all the time, pure sunshine that makes you smile. Just like Dad, he'll make anyone smile and laugh over the most random things. Partly why he makes loyal friends.

_Hello back atcha babe, no promises on the quietening. I'm constantly thinking you know that. See you soon at work. _

I sent a mental groan at her and caused her to chuckle through our link before the block came into place, giving me proper peace at last. Getting up, I ran a hand through my hair and yawned, I disliked this part of my age. According to my biology despite my adult body I am still a child and need more sleep, I'm envious of Dad who gets to read so much and see so much because he had no need to sleep all the time. I can just imagine all the paperwork I can get done if I didn't need to sleep like a human all the time. I wandered out into the kitchen, the cold lineal flooring cooled down my feet, sleeping beside Gwen was always like sleeping with a hot water bottle and as much as I love her it's still extremely uncomfortable in the summer.

While I was waiting for the kettle to boil I helped myself to the bananas. I adore bananas, full of potassium yet so tasty, Mum used to laugh and roll her eyes while telling me I was just like Dad. I loved it when she told me I was like Dad, no one really ever does since I'm so quiet and reserved compared to everyone else in my family. Well someone needs to be the stable one with Alex's wild visions, Aunt Donna's temper, Mum's emotional fragility and Uncle Jack being a walking pheromone.

I was probably on my fourth banana when Gwen wandered in, dressing gown covering her small black nightie and delicate pale skin. She was truly beautiful and I do not mean just physically, she was the most compassionate woman I have met more so than Mum and Aunt Donna and Gran who were the three most compassionate women I have known. Gwen's green eyes were always brimming with tears for every sob story from abused children to orphaned kittens to the poor homeless bum who's begging for enough change for a coffee. She feels for all and I love her for it.

"You do realise that I'm not buying anymore bananas until our weekly shop" she said calmly accepting the cup of coffee I wordlessly handed to her.

"I have a feeling I won't have a chance to eat them" I said calmly. "It's too nice out for it to just be a boring day. I don't believe in those clichés where everything has to be stormy and dark"

"It was a dark and stormy night when I first met you" Gwen teased.

"Oh but you're a walking cliché" I said pulling her in for a good morning kiss, she pulled away the last minute and grinned up at me.

"Is that so?"

"Oh yes, it's a cliché to be so gorgeous that people think angels have carved your face. It's a cliché to be so kind that you make Father Christmas look mean and yet be so good in the bedroom you probably beat Jack" Gwen had an amusing red flush in her cheeks, I embarrassed her with my compliments, serve her right for not giving me my kiss."And you're so much of a danger magnet that it's unbelievable" I added quickly, ducking down and pressing my lips firmly against hers before leaving the kitchen whistling with my cup of tea.

It took a while for Gwen to realise what I had just said. While my Gwen is beautiful, compassionate and quite humorous, despite her fast wit and thinking, she's not actually the brightest bulb.

"Hey, what do mean a danger magnet?!"

I chuckled before closing the bedroom door to get dressed.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

"Hold on, I need to get some money out just in case" Gwen said pausing on the high street where there was an empty cashier machine.

With our work at Torchwood it is always best to be prepared for anything. If we have some cash on us now we might be able to buy emergency supplies or pay off a witness. You never know with Torchwood, one day it'll be boring as hell with paperwork and the next day the world almost ended and Uncle Jack had died at least a thousand times. I leaned against the cool brick of the wall while Gwen took the needed money out, I didn't feel the need to take any out myself, I saved thousands up in the short years of working in Torchwood – mostly because Uncle Jack my godfather was paying for the rent of my flat, I'm not sure why, probably just Uncle Jack being his usual generous self – and I felt if the world ended that money would be worthless in survival. It's not money you need in emergencies but skill and I'm pretty sure I could become a good shoplifter if I tried.

But the need to shoplift has never come up.

It was the school rush and I've seen many children walk by in various school uniforms. I pitied them; they probably hated it and won't see its worth until it was too late. I hated school with a passion that rivalled Alex Rose's hatred for everything. The children were vicious bullies who were envious of mine and Alex Rose's intelligence, there was nothing that we didn't know in the school curriculum and we had been moved up years beyond our actual age. I finished a university degree at the age of seventeen though I admit I did it online since by that time none of my parents would let me out of their sight. I missed out on all of the socialising and confidence I could have gained in university and I envy those who can go out and make thousands of friends. I have very little and even then I'm not close to them.

My best friend will always be Alexandra Rose Jacqueline Tyler but I can't say the same for her. my sister was always more confident and outgoing than I'll ever be, she had more chances I think or she had so much charisma that she just attracts people like a flower attracts bees.

It took me a while to realise that the child in front of me has been there for over a minute now. Completely frozen, not a single muscle twitched under the strain, I, a Galifreyan, had more control over my body at that age and even I could not help but fidget while playing dead. I reached out and touched the child's shoulder, he didn't even flinch.

"Jay" Gwen breathed her name for me; an even shorter version of my nickname if that was possible. "What's happening?"

"I don't know" I said frowning as I examined the little boy in front of me. "He's just....frozen" I moved my finger back and forth, his eyes didn't follow. "Everything is just frozen in time, even his mind"

And then the child blinked. "Excuse me sir, I need to go to school" he said politely, I backed away and he ran off.

"That was creepy" Gwen muttered.

"I think we need to go to work now Gwen" I said taking her hand into mine and dragging her down the street.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

We bumped into Owen and Tosh as we headed to the information desk that hid our secret underground base. Not that it was that much of a secret; the local workers in this area have seen us duck in and not come out for hours for years. They know there is something hidden and they known Torchwood exist but they just pretend not to know. Humans like to block things out that don't make sense to them; they've been doing it for years. Which is a shame really since they could have made an alliance with an alien race at least a century ago.

"Did you see the children?" Tosh asked with her usual timidity. I enjoyed Toshiko Sato's company, she was a good friend and often makes wonderful conversation but she was quite shy compared to everyone including me though she's gotten more confident with her slowly blossoming relationship with Owen. Our local twat. "Owen almost ran some of them over on our way here"

I was tempted to make a teasing remark about Tosh and Owen waking up together but once again my confidence failed me. I was not comfortable enough with Tosh and Owen to make such remarks, I admire Owen for his medical knowledge and courage in battle, he shall always be the man who saved my sister when she was sixteen and terrified to me. But I find Owen far too sarcastic and prickly and whining to be true friends with him, my sister has made a strong friendship with him but I cannot.

He's really too annoying really.

I opened up the cog door and we began to walk down the dark tunnel as Owen began to complain about the children. "Honestly, I could have killed one of those brats if I hadn't pressed on the brakes in time. What the hell are they thinking? Is it some new fad, to try and get killed and annoy all adults? I swear if it happens again I shall strangle the brat that dares stand in the middle of the road"

"Owen, do us all a favour and shut up" Gwen said tiredly. "Some of us haven't had our morning coffee and wouldn't mind strangling you" I know that was a lie, Gwen had a morning coffee but Owen's whining was annoying to her as it was to me. She would need one of Ianto's ultra-fantastic brews to keep her going through the morning. Otherwise she might murder Owen before lunch.

"Yes Owen, please be quiet" Tosh said quietly. "There was obviously something unnatural about this and we need to start researching it immediately"

At her workstation a blonde woman was waiting impatiently for her computer to load up, I smiled fondly. "I believe Alex is ahead of you there, Tosh" I said.

Alex met my eye and we grinned at one another. It's been six months but I still couldn't believe she was back – and blonde! We looked like proper twins now, matching eyes and freckles, though she'll always be smaller than me and her blonde hair probably came from Mum or Dad's other incarnations, we're not sure, our younger sister Jenny looks the splitting image of Dad's fifth body, so it's possible.

"Hello Little Brother" she said cheerfully.

Inwardly I flinched. I hated it when she called me that, ever since she woke up from her surgery that is what she calls me at times. She won't admit it but I was the eldest, I have always been the eldest, she was my little sister. Even if technically she's probably thirty two or so while I'm still twenty two, I was born first and she is my little sister. Instead of wording this dislike I merely kept grinning and replied. "Hello Alex"

"Heya Kid, looking up on the brats? Where's lover-boy, I need my coffee" Owen said turning his computer on and sitting back in his chair.

"Lover-boy is making your coffee" Ianto said coolly passing coffee to everyone, we all murmured our thanks as we headed to our workstations. "Jack has gone to St Helen's hospital; there's been another death by alien that he needs to sort out"

Tosh was rapidly typing; she had the fastest computer in the Hub and worked faster than anyone when it came to searches. Also she had the better idea where to look than the rest of us.

"What have you got me?" Alex Rose asked.

"Seventeen traffic accidents reporting from across the country all occurred at 8:40:41, seventeen traffic accidents happening at the exact minute and all involving children" Tosh said immediately.

"All during the school run" Gwen mused. "Think it means something?"

"Most likely" Alex Rose said. "They're probably being controlled by a telepathic alien that's parked right on top of Britain, again. Why is it always our country that gets the aliens?"

"It's just not in Britain" Tosh said. "Fifteen road accidents in France all happened at 9:40 so it was the exact time as us since France is an hour ahead"

"Are they all children?" Ianto asked.

"Yes I'm cross referencing right now. Reports are coming in from Norway, Sweden, Demark, Luxemburg, Germany, India, Egypt, Ghana, Spain, Portugal, Bosnia, Tokyo, Singapore. Even in America when most children were asleep, reports are coming in" Tosh said horrified. "Every child on Earth...just stopped"

"Bloody hell" Owen swore. "Is it possible for it to be a conspiracy?"

"I doubt it, who would want to scare people by making children not move?" Gwen said.

"The traffic safety people?" Ianto suggested causing all of us to snort.

"It's not a conspiracy" I said quietly. "Children would fidget and be unable to keep the act up if it was. That boy, he was frozen....as if time itself stopped just him and only him"

"Great just great" Alex muttered. "So we have some sort of powerful race of alien that's probably using blood control or something orbiting the planet and controlling the children, how are we going to solve it?"

Everyone sat there in silence, all in thought. I, myself, was wondering what we could do. I had no experience in something so large and subtle like this and I was the subtle twin. Often when Earth is about to be invaded they're so....aggressive and forward that we could easily take them out and celebrate with pizza. The last time we had a subtle attack was probably the Sontarans, they wanted to make our planet into a breeding ground for them....Alex Rose almost died at that time....she almost burnt to a crisp with no possibility of regenerating if it wasn't for Rattigan, boy genius who had actually been part of the cause of the mess in the first place. I rather he died than my sister but it was still a loss of a wonderful life. My depressive musings were cut of short when the cog door opened up once more and my godfather entered the room with his usual confidence.

"Something has happened with the children" Ianto said reporting to Uncle Jack immediately.

"Well I want you to do a check on St Helen's Hospital, more specifically the morgue" Uncle Jack said shrugging his coat off, he leant down and kissed my forehead before moving to Alex Rose and giving her a hello kiss. Uncle Jack was the only parent left on Earth right now, Mum and Dad are travelling with each other in time and space and Aunt Donna is camping out in the 51st century under the impression that her name was River Song.

"Well do it yourself, the world's about to be invaded again I think that's more important than a couple rotting bodies" Alex retorted. "Tosh will catch you up but I think we might need to call Mum and Dad in for this"

The room was silent. Everyone had met Mum and Dad at several points, Owen had even flirted with Mum in the early days before Uncle Jack had threatened him off. Mum was capable of fighting off the next weevil as anyone in this room, her immortality had given her the advantage that only Uncle Jack had and she was fierce as anything when it came to protecting her children, the mother wolf protecting her cubs. The Bad Wolf in its golden glory. Dad was something else all together; he was everything, fire, ice, rage, immortality and the most powerful electric current all in one body. The Oncoming Storm. I think Dad intimidates everyone but me, Alex and Uncle Jack. I know Ianto had been warned by Dad himself to never hurt Alex.

But the thing is, if Alex Rose who can save the world single handily if she wanted to, believed she needs the Doctor and Rose to help with this case....then it's bad. It's more than bad it means the next few days will be chaos and destruction all rolled into one. We might die.

I suddenly had a feeling of death breathing down my neck.

"I don't think we do" Uncle Jack said lightly. "We could call Martha or Mickey to help out. We're going to need backup and some UNIT insider to feed us some info"

"Oh no" Gwen said sternly. "We are not going to interrupt them. They're on their honeymoon, remember?"

Vaguely. It was all unexpected if you ask me, they had only known each other for what a year? And not been in each other's company until six months ago but all of a sudden they got married (we were invited, so was Mum and Dad but they didn't turn up) at a registry office last week and left for two weeks in the canary islands for some sun, sex and sea.

"Well then" Uncle Jack said cheerfully. "Just us seven then"

Suddenly, the breath of death against my neck and turned into a complete sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. We're going to die. I just know it.


	3. Alex Rose Part 2

I whirled round in my chair with a frustrated groan. It was times like this that I almost want my visions to come back, so I know what was going to happen, stop it and move on. One less thing to worry about. It's the most disturbing thing to not know anything after spending twenty years knowing everything. I'm not being ungrateful or anything, I love not going into fits or waking up to find more scars on my wrist and I love being able to be free from all this knowledge of people going to die, people going to do this, the world will end now and this is what happened in the Time War.

I still know it but I don't think about it anymore like I used to. There's no constant reminder.

"I hate those UNIT guys" Owen complained sitting down on my desk looking irritated.

"They're not so bad. Just uptight" I muttered.

"All I can get out of them is that their Washington base is doing some tests on the children, you know blood levels and sugar and what not. maybe I should kidnap a kid and do my own tests, I don't trust those Yankees to get anything right" Owen carried on as if I never spoke, he jumped up and sought out Jack who was listening to Tosh's lecture of how she can't find anything non-human orbiting Earth. "Hey Jack, could I kidnap a kid?"

"No" Jack said not even bothering to look up. "But if the children stop again I'll sort one out"

I knew what that meant. I never really thought about Jack's life outside of me and Torchwood, didn't want to since it would involve the disturbing mental images of my godfather shagging someone – most likely Donna, Ew. But I did know that Jack had a daughter, a good few years older than me and was a single mother to a young boy. I guess you could say that I'm an aunt now but I never met Alice let alone her son so I wouldn't count it.

"Hey Jack. We got someone circling the tower like Gwen did" Ianto called from his watching post of the CCTV cameras.

"Ah, come around people, come around" Jack said cheerfully dragging Tosh away from her work to where Ianto stood. We all shuffled around Ianto, bumping into one another and muttering insults as usual until we all got a clear view of an Indian man wandering around in circles on the pass. Almost three years ago JJ, Jack, Tosh, Owen, Ianto and Suzie had done the exact same thing as they watched Gwen blunder her way in. I wasn't there at the time but I had the visions and only phoned to tell Jack I told you so. He never believed me when I said Suzie was an evil bitch. "This might be our new team member. After Owen's death and Alex Rose's disappearance I realised we need more members. We rely too much on one another"

"We have a strong bond and trust each other" JJ said. "Better than being a huge cooperation with little trust where spies can easily slip through"

We all knew what he was referring to. Torchwood One, the bane of my existence, how many times has Mickey Smith or Jack Harkness or even Tosh and Owen broken in and stolen information without them noticing? Too often to be healthy, even UNIT had better security than that.

"As much as I agree with you JJ, Alex Rose is no longer into medics anymore and we need someone to assist Owen" Jack said causing Owen to glare at me.

"I told you again and again, let this be the last time, this body has more of an interest in mechanics" I said sighing before Owen could even open his mouth to make a sarcastic or insulting or maybe even both, remark. "Don't you think this is a nasty way to recruit members? I mean Gwen almost died this way and it really fucks up the mind"

"I'm pretty sure that none of you have homicidal tendencies" Jack said firmly.

"I agree with her. The lot of you are a bunch of bastards" Gwen said moving away from the screen. "I'll put him out of his misery and go talk to him"

Owen snickered. "Have fun" he said. "We'll be watching from here"

"Git" Gwen muttered slipping her jacket on before leaving.

We watched as Gwen greeted the new guy and led him to a cafe, she also looked back up at the camera and stuck her tongue out causing the others to chuckle. I smiled but couldn't bring myself to laugh. I still felt unnerved by this children thing, maybe I should phone Mum and Dad no doubt they'll come running to help us and it would be fun to see Jenny again – as long as she keeps her hands of Ianto. But I'm thirty, I've been around the world and saved people on my own, I've taken care of people and myself alone for so long that I didn't want to be dependant on my parents. Hell I don't think I ever been dependant on my parents, as much as they tried they never really there for me and they have their own problems to deal with. Starting with their own relationship.

"Hey, that kid has frozen again!" Owen yelped jabbing a finger at the screen.

"Come on lets go, move it people we got a world to save" Jack said herding us out of the cog door. "Move, move, move, no guns just yet, Owen forget your jacket we don't have time"

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

We are coming. We are coming. Well who the bloody hell are you and why are you coming to Earth? That's one thing I hate about aliens who like to act all mysterious and powerful, they never give you a straight answer and totally mess with your heads. Once we encountered this dark mysterious alien that only wanted to invade Earth to make Britney Spears do a concert. So not only did the alien have crap music taste it also cost me a day and half doing paperwork.

I hope this alien doesn't do that but then again I also hope it doesn't have paedophile tendencies with it using the children like that.

An alarm from Tosh's desk echoed across the Hub and Tosh quickly typed away only to let out a little moan. "Of all times for a Weevil to attack" she muttered.

"Right then, Tosh you and Owen can handle the Weevil. I'm going to find a kid for you to test on for when you come back, Gwen what do you plan on doing?"

"I found a man in an old people's home who's been suffering the same as the children" Gwen said, turning her computer screen to face us. On it was an old man with grey beard and full head of hair standing frozen as he chanted 'we are coming' in a monotone zombie like voice. "I was thinking of investigating this lead and see if I could find some answers"

"Be careful, he might actually be a telepath" I said warningly. "Mind rape is rather nasty. Worse than actual rape, you'll never feel clean again"

Everyone shuddered including me, I didn't want to know how I knew that but I did. Maybe one of my visions I blocked out so long ago showed me what it was like or maybe I have been mind raped and blocked it out. Who knows? But I do know that I don't want to know.

"I'll go with her" JJ said being his usual overprotective boyfriend self. It was rather sweet but for someone who was independent like Gwen it could get annoying. I could tell that Gwen was about to argue with this, she was after all, second in command here and could take care of herself very well.

Jack also sensing this had interrupted before she had a chance to even speak. "Yes you should, your telepathy can help protect Gwen's mind while also making sure if this guy is telling the truth. You two can go, take Gwen's car though. Owen and Tosh need the SUV if they're bringing in another Weevil" Tosh, Owen, Gwen and JJ all nodded and left the Hub without argument. "Ianto, could you prepare something to eat for tonight? Something tells me that we're not going home at all today" Jack said turning to Ianto.

"Sorry sir, but I thought I'll go to my sister and ask to burrow my niece and nephew in case your plan backfires" Ianto said politely. "Would you like to come with me, Alex?"

"My plans never backfire!" Jack protested.

"No thank you Ianto" I said ignoring my godfather who was now making fish faces. "I should make sure that Jack doesn't do anything stupid, give Rhiannon my love and say hello to the kids for me"

"Will do, goodbye" Ianto bent down and kissed me a mere centimetre away from my lips before leaving the room. I was tempted to run after him and give him a proper kiss goodbye, tongues and all but that was a bit melodramatic since we were no where near a life or death situation...yet.

It was that yet that both thrilled me and scared me. All Torchwood members tend to end up as adrenalin junkies but we also know when to fear the danger as well. Ianto might die or I might become a brand new person again and I don't think I'm ready for another change just yet.

"Why aren't you going with him?" Jack asked me, probably reading the need to follow Ianto in my eyes. "Don't you like his family?"

"Of course I like his family! Don't be ridiculous!" I snapped. "I just want to meet Alice and Stephen, speaking of whom I never asked before, but did Donna know about them?"

"Yeah but I never wanted her to meet Lucia, it would have gotten really ugly" Jack muttered darkly before leading the way to his own car, small rusty old thing that he rarely uses since he had the SUV on hand all the time before.

I couldn't help wonder how normal Alice was compared to me. I mean Ianto's family is so normal and average you can't help but think Ianto would look so out of place there. Rhiannon worked with weight watchers and gossiped on her phone just like Jackie Tyler did, Johnny would be loud and obnoxious and watch football and the two children would be glued to either the TV or the latest computer game, not even sparing a look at Ianto unless he was handing out money.

Typical normal family with an odd on that just popped out of nowhere. But Alice grew up with an immortal father that kept disappearing and reappearing and a mother who worked with Torchwood. She grew up with the knowledge of aliens and her family history; she could be me without all the kidnapping and death.

Well whatever she was like I was going to find out now as Jack led me to a normal small house and knocked on the cheerful red painted door. The door opened and a pretty mid-thirties woman with a slightly big nose and curly dark hair peered her head around.

"Oh, it's you" she said ungracefully.

"Hello Alice, how are you?" Jack asked shifting uncomfortably. "I need to see Stephen, maybe take him out for some dinner and a film?"

"After what just happened today? You got to be joking? Ah I see, you want to test on him and find out what's going on, always the ulterior motive hey Dad?" she snarled furiously. Almost like a mother lioness, admirable but a bit of a nuisance due to our situation. "Well no way am I letting you near him, I've had enough fright as it is today"

"I can assure you that he'll be safe and no harm will come to him. We have two qualified doctors, I included, to oversee the procedure" I said professionally causing Alice to actually see me for the first time. She stared at me with her bright blue eyes that she obviously got from her father and I stared back unbothered. Her gaze was no intimidating as Jack's who I can still outstare nor was it like my own father's Oncoming Storm glares. It was just a mother and I can handle that in my sleep.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Alexandra Rose Tyler, I'm-"

"Don't. your name says it all, your Dad's goddaughter" Alice said coldly, oh dear maybe this was the case of being talked about too much, poor Martha suffered from hearing Dad go on and on about Mum, made her rather bitter. "The answer is no. Now please go"

"Uncle Jack!"

A small blonde boy with Jack's blue eyes pushed passed his mother and leaped into Jack's arms that had no problem of holding him up. Jack had many experiences of me and JJ throwing ourselves at him and expect him to carry us both without a single problem. After all, to us Jack was Superman back then.

"Hello Soldier, have you been good?" Jack asked ruffling Stephen's hair.

"Yep!" he said cheerfully as if he had never been possessed by something. Not at all like Rhiannon's kids they had always been possessed by one thing or another, usually a computer game. "Who's she?" he asked pointing to me. "Your girlfriend?" he had screwed his nose up in disgust which Jack imitated.

"Oh yuck! No this is Alex; she's a friend of mine"

"Hello Alex!" Stephen said cheerfully.

"Hello" I replied.

"They were just leaving Stephen, so get off of Uncle Jack and go back to your homework" Alice said sternly causing Stephen to groan. But under his mother's glare his gave Jack a quick tight hug before jumping down and running up the stairs. "Go now Dad, I don't want Stephen to get caught up in whatever mess you're in now" Alice hissed. "Take your perfect little girl and go now"

"Perfect? No one's perfect Alice and little? Don't make me laugh I'm not that much younger than you" I said angrily. "Jack's trying to help you know? So don't be so harsh on him, he's your father"

"Doesn't act like one. Now go before I call the police!" Alice snapped pushing us out of the doorway. "I can take care of my son by myself"

"He loves you, you know" I murmured to her. She had to know. I could see right through her, she thought the aliens and the women and me and JJ were more important to Jack than she was. Just like I thought travelling through time, saving worlds and Madam De Pompadour was more important than I was to my father. I rather not have something make the same mistakes I had made. "You're lucky, I wish I had my father visit me often as Jack visits you"

"Yeah, well you're the lucky one. You can spend centuries with him, being his daughter while I'll rot in my grave" she spat out in my ear as Jack pulled at my shoulder. "Goodbye!" she slammed the door as Jack continued to pull me down the pathway.

"Well that could have gone better" Jack said cheerfully leading me towards the car. "Usually I get a cup of tea before being kicked out but then again at that point I have the tea over my head"

"She does love you though" I said, hating to see Jack hurt like this.

His smile and cheerful voice was painfully fake and he was refusing all eye contact with me. Jack was naturally a cheerful person despite all the pain and suffering he had been through, he always managed to make a joke or sexual comment to lighten up the mood.

"I know. She's like you, stubborn, independent and a bit violent. Probably why I paid so much attention to you. Tried to make up for my absence with Alice" Jack sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, we'll get through it one day" he then pulled out his mobile and frowned. "Doctor Rupesh Patanjali needs me, another death has happened"

"Sorry, but who?"

"The Indian bloke from earlier" Jack said impatiently. "Now come along now, we got a date with a morgue"

I stepped back immediately. "Rather not. I'll head back to the Hub and wait for Ianto, he might have had some success in getting his niece and nephew for the night"

Jack gave me a knowing frown. "You never had a problem with morgues before" he said concerned. "You once had sex with Ianto in there, trust me I know since I got it all on CCTV"

"I demand you delete it now before you watch it again" I ordered coldly. "Now you go and solve the mystery of the dead people while I go and do my job"

"Alex" Jack said gently, putting a hand on my shoulder, "You know you can tell me anything"

I shrugged him off. "I'm fine" I mumbled. "I'll catch you later, yeah?"

I walked off before he could answer. I really do not want to talk about my new morgue problem. I didn't even realise I had one till now but the moment morgue came out of Jack's lips I was filled with images of my father's dead body, lips turning blue while laying there on a metal tray. It could be Deano next, was the thought that hit me straight after the memory. My little brother could be dead.

I shook my head and tried to block out the memories and terrifying thoughts. I am not Carly Wicks anymore. Kevin was not my father and Deano is not my little brother the little backstabbing traitor he is.

But who am I kidding? I spent years and years thinking that Kevin was the best Dad in the whole wide world and Deano was my annoying little brother that I had to protect. The day Kevin Wicks died will remain one of the worst days of my life, no matter who I am.


	4. JJ Part 2

Timothy White was a found in Leeds, living on the streets at the age of eleven. No one had reported him missing. No one.

It was the fact that no one cared that a child went missing that hit me. Because I immediately start wondering if this child does have someone who cared. If Timothy was anything like Alex – alien, loved and on the run from Torchwood. Mum could never report that Alex was missing but it never meant that she didn't love her. Every night she would sit by the living room window. Just waiting. Waiting for Uncle Jack to be a hero and come bounding in with Alex Rose in his arms. Or maybe she was waiting for Dad to save us all. Who knows?

So immediately I sympathised with this elderly man and wanted to help.

He was nothing like Alex but then again no one is like Alex. He was nervous and plain terrified of his own shadow. Whatever had happened to him had caused a lot of psychological damage.

"You said we are coming" Gwen started in a calm voice. "Can you remember why?" he swayed side to side, his eyes screwed up as if he was trying to block something out. I'm grateful to whichever relative had given me this patience because I really wanted to know the answer to Gwen's question and he was taking far too long to answer it. "Do you know what I think it was? Aliens"

"There's no such thing" he whispered.

"Believe me, Mr White, aliens certainly do exist" I said with a small smile playing on my lips. I remembered once, a boy back in school who kept saying aliens didn't exist. Me and Alex hadn't been able to stop laughing each time he said it. "I don't mean to panic you, but we believe that they're using you to speak through. Do you know why?"

He trembled. "No such thing, no such thing"

"I'm an alien"

Gwen shot me a glare. It was against work policy for me and Alex to spill our biological secret. But I wanted to have an honest relationship with this man in front of me. He was too nervous to be trusting and we needed him to trust us enough to give us our answers.

"I know" he whispered. "You've come to take me, haven't you?"

"No Mr White, I've come to help you. We also need your help; you have knowledge that could help us save the world"

"M-Me?"

"Yes"

He looked at me and Gwen, switching between us. It was as if he was trying to decide which one was more trustworthy.

"She is not alien?" he asked me.

"No, I am human but I have a relationship with Mr Tyler here" Gwen said calmly.

Damn! He's a xenophobic! This means, I'm going to be kindly asked to leave while he tells everything to Gwen. Not that it's a bad thing, Gwen as a talent to get everyone confess to her but it's a little upsetting that I'm being left out.

Timothy snatched Gwen's hand and took a deep sniff. "Yes, you definitely smell like you've been mating with an alien" he mumbled, Gwen looked startled and embarrassed at the same time. "But you're telling the truth" he looked shocked and awed that someone was telling the truth for once.

"If you feel more comfortable with Ms Cooper, I have no problem leaving the room" I told him.

He smiled weakly. "Could you go upstairs? I don't want you to listen in"

A little paranoid but I think he's warming up to me. God help him if he meets Alex though. Within three seconds he would be crying and she would be fuming.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

He didn't give much information but I believe that was due to his fear and paranoia. According to Gwen on our journey back to the Hub the man was under the belief he was being watched by the actual aliens. She had tried to calm him down by using one of her gadgets to shut down the CCTV. Of course that just led to the final interruption where the Nurse asked us nicely to leave the home.

What Gwen did get though was some information.

Timothy White's real name was Clement MacDonald and as a child he was almost abducted by the aliens that are talking through the children. Something happened in the 1960s and by the sounds of it; it's going to take a lot of digging from Toshiko and me.

As we entered the Hub, Tosh looked up with a semi-pleased smile. "Clement MacDonald. Orphan. Was transferred out of his home with twelve other children, however where to is not on any record"

"Well that fits in with being abducted" Gwen said frowning.

"OH FOR FUCK SAKE!"

We all jumped at Owen's voice. It was not unusual for him to have an angry outburst but it has become a more regular thing since Alex started tinkering with everything.

"Bugger off Owen!"

"Alexandra Rose Tyler, you will stop fiddling with every single gadget in my autopsy room! You will get lost and you will come back with a medical interest!"

"It's _Doctor _Alexandra Rose Tyler to you!"

A heavy sigh came from behind me and I turned to see Ianto with a tray of coffee and my tea. "How long has this been going on?"

"She's been trying to fix the scanner since I told her I lost our car"

I winced. When Alex had been discharged by the fifty-first century hospital and settled back into her life here in Cardiff, one of the first things she did was buy a car and start fixing it up. It turned out her second body loved mechanics and technology. After two long months of hard work, her car made the Batmobile look shameful. I do not want to be in Ianto's shoes; no doubt Alex will make his life a misery for a very long time.

"Hey kids"

"Hi Uncle Jack" I said allowing him to ruffle my hair before he snatched a coffee from Ianto's tray. "Are you ok? You look angry"

"Someone killed me and Rupesh Patanjali" Uncle Jack said scowling. "The cowards didn't even have the decency to do it to my face. They just shot me in the back!"

"Well we'll look into it once we sort out these children" Gwen said firmly. "But first we need to sort out the children in the autopsy room"

Uncle Jack blinked. "Children? You found some?"

"I believe Gwen was talking about Owen and Alex Rose" Tosh said. "They won't stop arguing"

Uncle Jack rolled his eyes and stormed off to the autopsy room. Having lost a potential staff member and needing to save the world soon was obviously taking it's toll on him. I shared a worried glance with Gwen before following him; the footsteps behind me – both noisy and silent – told me that the others were also following.

"Right then you two, what has happened this time?" Uncle Jack asked looking frustrated.

"She won't stop fiddling with medical equipment" Owen snarled pointing an accusatory finger at Alex in a rather childish manner, if you asked me.

Alex huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm letting off steam! There's nothing I can do until we have more info on these aliens. Besides I made it work better, the holos were glitching and now it's fixed. Put your hand on and see"

"Why should I?"

Uncle Jack growled loudly causing the two of them to jump. "If I put my hand on the stupid machine will you promise you concentrate on saving the world for the rest of the day?"

They both nodded and I rolled my eyes at Alex's childishness. It really shouldn't surprise me that she acts like this but it does. Sometimes I wonder if I somehow inherited the maturity gene girls are supposed to have.

Uncle Jack placed a hand over the scanner and then suddenly to my horror the alarm went off and the lights began to flash red.

"What was that?" Gwen said flatly.

The hologram before them showed inside Uncle Jack was a bomb, everyone stared at it horrified. Something inside me had begun to freeze over.

"Holy shit!" Owen yelled.

"My god" Uncle Jack whispered. "It's a bomb"

"Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown"

"There's a bomb in your stomach" Ianto said shocked.

"How is that possible?" Tosh asked.

"Uncle Jack..." I felt ice growing in my stomach. There was a bomb in my godfather's stomach. He was standing very close to my twin. The Hub was going to lockdown....

"Get out" Uncle Jack said pushing Alex and Owen to the stairs. "GET OUT NOW!"

"Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown"

"NO!" Gwen screamed as I began to pull her towards the cog door. "There's something we could do, we can get it out Jack just give us a chance"

"Get out now" Uncle Jack hissed.

"Two minutes" Ianto informed them looking at the computers.

"Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown, Torchwood Lockdown"

"Uncle Jack-"

"Damnit JJ, leave now! You too Alex!"

I pushed Gwen and Tosh out of the cog door and turned back to see Owen and Ianto dragging Alex onto the elevator. She was screaming her head off and trying to kick her way out of the grip.

"JJ, NOW!"

I barely got out in time, the cog door slammed to a shut behind me as I ran out of the information booth, Gwen and Tosh were a few feet away from me when a huge blast and loud banging sound sent me flying across the Pass.

I saw dancing flames and glowing stars across my eyes. My back ached and I'm pretty sure I'm bleeding somewhere.

_JJ!_

I winced at the telepathic scream. So loud that it hurts.

Everything went black.


	5. Alex Rose Part 3

_JJ...JJ...JJ...answer me....JJ..._

"Alex wake up! C'mon kid, open your eyes, please"

_JJ..._

"Seriously, wake up! We can't keep carrying you, you are far too heavy"

My eyes flew open and I opened my mouth to retort something rude but everything was so blurred and I felt disorientated. There were bright orange blurs dancing before me as I felt my feet being dragged across the pavement in a loud scraping sound that was quiet compared to the sirens and screaming.

"Alex?" one of the pale blurs beside me became more focused and detailed. It was Owen. "Hold on kid, we need to get medical attention both you and Ianto are bleeding"

"JJ" I whispered. "JJ..."

"He's safe. He got out through the main entrance with Tosh and Gwen. Don't worry, just concentrate on getting out of here before the cops arrive"

"Should we not wait for an ambulance?" Ianto's voice said from my other side.

"Hell no! Think about it, that doctor dude that wanted to join us was killed in the hospital at the same time the bomb was implanted in Jack. There's probably loads of spies in the paramedics just waiting for us"

"First time you ever used your brain" I teased as I pulled away from the strong grips holding me up.

"You must be feeling better if you can be snarky" Owen said with a bit of a smirk. "Our apartments are out. I wouldn't be surprised if we had someone watching them. So we need somewhere to hide so I can clean your cuts"

I touched my forehead gently and pulled away when I felt a slight sting. Looking down at my hand I could see dark spots on my fingers. Blood. I thought for a moment. I can't go home where I have a first aid box nor can I go to anyone from the Team since they were being targeted. Hospitals and police were ruled out due to spies. We can't risk going to Ianto's sister in case she was being watched as well. After all Ianto went there earlier today.

"Owen, do you have any fellow doctors that wouldn't give us up?" I asked him.

He snorted. "Do I look like I maintained my cool social life after I died?" thinking about it, I realised for someone that spent almost every night drinking and chatting up girls, Owen has spent more time with Tosh exclusively. Also I never heard Owen refer to any of his old co-workers or fellow med-students.

"Then we just go to a public loo and clean the blood off. Nothing much we can do until it's safe to get out of hiding"

"We need to steal a car," Ianto said randomly. I turned to look at him and he stared back with a blank expression. "They're probably tracking our vehicles as well. I'm very good at hotwiring. So we should steal a car and make our way to London"

"Why London?" Owen asked as we ducked down a dark alleyway.

"That's where our enemies are," I growled. London. The base for Torchwood One, my personal little hellhole. The idiots that work there think they could own every little alien thing, me included. They loved to torture aliens and abuse their technology for their own purposes.

Ianto glanced at me. "It's probable that Torchwood One is behind this," he said neutrally as if he never worked there or been kidnapped by them. "But it is also probable for an anti-Torchwood faction in the government to be working against us"

"Then why not start with Torchwood One?"

"Probably because they're bigger and more secretive. The Scottish branch is highly secretive and tiny. We're a small group of very intelligent people including a wanted woman, two aliens, an ex-employee of Torchwood One and an immortal man" Owen said. "Oh and me and Gwen" he added as an afterthought. "Anyways, we never really hid our existence. The police hate us, the hospital is more than aware of us and the locals use our name as a swearword. So we're easy pickings"

"I still think its Torchwood One" I said stubbornly as we slowed to a stop in front of a run-down cafe.

It was one of those twenty-four hour ones that barely gets any customers apart from the drunken louts from the nightclubs. Owen herded me and Ianto in and immediately got the bored waitress to get out her first-aid box. A very pathetic first-aid box that only had plasters paracetmol and baby-wipes in. But it was enough to get us clean and bandaged. Ianto left to find a car for us while Owen brought some tea and chocolate to help the shock. Personally I think what I needed the most was a warm bed to wake up in. To find out this was just one hellish nightmare. Unfortunately no matter how many times I tell myself to wake up I'm still staring at Owen's ugly mug.

No offense Owen.

"I need the loo" I muttered pushing back from the table. I winced at the loud screech of my chair against the floor. It was like nails on a chalkboard. Nasty as hell.

Ignoring the waitresses glare, I stomped off into the tiny and crap bathroom. Only one toilet, a dirty sink with an unframed mirror. A bar of soap and a pile of paper towels sat on top of the sink behind the taps. The loo roll was placed on the window sill next to a plastic vase of fake flowers in a terrible attempt to brighten up the place. Yeesh you think the owner could take tips from his competition in better, more hygienic cafes. Ignoring the grime on the tiles, I rested my head against the cool wall as I sat on the loo.

Torchwood One.

It had to be them. It's always been them. Well ok not always them. There had been a year when it was the Master's fault and another year where it was the dalek's fault. But two years out of the complicated mess of my life was nothing. Before I was born they had kidnapped my mother. When I was five they tortured me. When I was eight they killed Mum. When I was fourteen I was kidnapped again and subjected to abuse. They caused the entire world to be invaded by cybermen from another dimension and then Donna to almost be eaten by a giant spider.

It was them that brainwashed my little brother against me.

Deano Wicks...

I bashed my head against the tile. I shouldn't think about him. I will not think about him. He is not my little brother. Jimbo Wicks was not my big brother. Kevin Wicks was not my father. Shirley was not my absentee mother. I am not Carly Wicks.

Sometimes I forget that. Sometimes I introduce myself as Carly and not answer to Alex Rose. Sometimes I can't help but stare at my family and friends and wonder who the hell they are. It unnerves me that there will always be a part of me that isn't me. I hope that one day when I regenerate that I'll lose that part of me and be able to start anew.

There was a loud bang on the door.

"Oi, Alex Rose. Ianto's here with the car, what's taking so long? It's not you're time of the month is it?"

I'm going to kill Owen. No one would notice I'll just blame it on the bomb....

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

The car journey was slow.

Not just slow but irritatingly slow.

Admittedly I had been asleep the beginning of it but when I woke up to find we were still not in London, I went a little mental.

Under the fear of being followed, Ianto had decided a route going further north before turning east for England. So we were hovering around mid-England roughly noon with still miles to go till we got into London. Who knew my boyfriend was a paranoid man? Really, he makes Mad-Eye Moody look normal.

Part of me really wanted to push Owen out of the front seat and start driving well past the speed limit and get into London in record time.

But after an incident where I had driven the SUV through a brick wall to get to an alien threat in time....not one of my finest moments...especially since I lost control of the breaks and we ended up spinning madly through the parking lot...and everyone was screaming insults at me...it's fair to say I've been banned from driving.

Not fair really when we're in a situation like this. And the fact that I drive reasonably well outside of work and I have worked with cars for years. So really I should be allowed to drive no matter how many brick walls I break while saving the world.

To my relief we were on the M1 by three and were heading towards London at a faster pace. At the same time and for the first time during the whole day, JJ got in touch with me. He didn't say much at first since I kept moaning to him telepathically. But once he got a word in edgeways he informed me that not only were he, Gwen and Tosh already in London but they found out where Jack is and got a plan. Thank you Toshiko Sato for her amazing computer-hacking skills. Unfortunately Owen had been insufferable as he bragged about her. For someone who denied being in love with her, he was doing a bad job pretending he wasn't.

We managed to get to the place Jack was being held in an hour earlier than the others. I watched in feigned interest as the construction workers filled something with cement. I had never really found building something interesting. It took far long and just stood there. At least being a doctor and mechanic I can make things move faster.

"Do you think Jack is in there?" Ianto asked concerned. "It could be him that they're trying to block in"

"It better not be him" I said rather ferociously. I put that down to lack of food and too much boredom. "Otherwise I'll have to beat every single one of them up"

"No need for that kid" Owen said ruffling my fringe. I knocked his hand away and glared at him. Unfortunately in this body my glare wasn't that scary.

I stared at the fork-lift, my mind immediately creating an insane half-perfected plan. Hotwire the fork-lift, break the wall and snatch Jack. Ianto caught me staring and grabbed hold of my hand.

"Give it twenty minute and I'll start hotwiring it" he said.

"Oh I love you" I told him sincerely and jokingly at the same time. I followed up by tip-toeing so I was tall enough to grab his chin and plant one on him. The fact he held my waist, kissed back deeply and was being very good at it just made me feel a bit horny.

I would have pushed him into a ditch and had my wicked way if it wasn't for Owen. "Oi, lovebirds! Spare me the sickening love scene"

Ianto pulled away with an embarrassed pink flush while I just smirked at Owen. "You're just jealous because you're not getting any"

Owen snorted. "Yeah right. I have you know that I'm getting plenty"

"Riiiiiiiight" I drawled. "And Jack is a celibate monk"

"They're here" Ianto said suddenly I turned to see a large black car pull up close by the building. I squinted slightly and easily made out JJ's messy hair.

Ianto started to make his way up to the fork-lift. "Where you're going?" Owen demanded.

"I'm going to help save Jack"

"There's only room for one on that thing" Owen noted.

"Of course I cannot trust you to go without messing things up and someone needs to keep Alex out of trouble"

Owen flushed and I raised an eyebrow. I think a red shirt is going to end up in Ianto's white washing when we get home. Very suitable punishment. After all Ianto looks good in pink and I'll reap the rewards. I've always liked pink, my hair used to look great with a bright pink streak in it. I missed having my hair like that. Maybe I should cut it, dye it brown and put a colourful streak in. Blonde hair seems to make it difficult to have a colour that fits well and stands out.

You know I really should stop worrying about hair at a time like this. Just pondering on the topic and I've already missed Ianto setting off to rescue Jack in case the other's mess up. Not that they would purposely mess up, just we're outnumbered already and half the team is not with them. As long as they can get out there alive it'll be fine and we'll meet up somewhere else.

A loud crunching sound got my attention as I turned to see Ianto pulling out a giant block of concrete...

Oh bloody hell, what sort of concrete did they use?

"Bloody hell. If construction workers get ahold of that stuff we'd get our buildings done sooner" Owen said admiringly. "I wonder if it's alien or just really advance technology, like nano-genes"

"We'll get Tosh to look into it later, right now lets just catch up with Ianto" I said running off to follow the bright yellow fork-lift that was speeding (about five miles per hour faster than a granny bike) across the rocky wasteland towards the edge of the cliff. Once I caught up to Ianto who was jumping off the fork-lift and the block smashed against the ground a good few miles below us.

Ianto caught me in a tight hug and murmured in my ear, "Let's catch up with the others"

I shuddered slightly at the really nice feeling his breathe sent down my spine and then suppressed all desire to have my way with him as I took his hand. "Run" I told him before I dragged him with me. Owen followed behind us, whinging loudly at how much he'd been running.

By the time we got there, the large black car was parked near the smashed bits of concrete and Jack stood there proudly in the buff. Not a sight I want to ever see in my many lives.

"Jack cover up!" Owen squawked.

I noticed in amusement that Tosh had covered her eyes and JJ was covering Gwen's for her. Ianto took off his suit jacket and passed it to Jack silently while Owen kept staggering around in a melodramatic way as he moaned about his eyes.

"Hey twin" JJ said grinning at me.

"Hey back atcha" I said grinning back.


End file.
